Chainmail
by diellemabelle
Summary: Kyoko receives an interesting email from Kijima-san, one that leaves her in "dire" circumstances. Is the embarrassment worth protecting the people she cares about most? What will Tsuruga-san think of her when he sees it? Silly story, fluffy and hopefully adorable.


**Author's Note: **_Hello, D here. I'm kind of new to the Skip Beat! fandom. (waves) Hopefully I will write something that you enjoy. My first SB fic was "I know you care..." which is a songfic using lyrics by Ellie Goulding. (check it out?) _

_This story is much sillier and probably kind of stupid. But I had fun writing it, so mission accomplished. The letter in the story is actually a real chain email I received once, so don't give me any credit for that part of the story. _

_That's all, enjoi! XD_**  
**

**Chainmail: A Skip-Beat! fanfic.**

Kyoko was fiddling with her new phone for the umpteenth time this morning. Today, the president had provided her with a replacement for the one that Tsuruga-san/Cain had broken a few days ago. However, when she made the request, she'd accidentally mentioned that she wanted a phone that could send emails. Being the man that he is, the president offered her the newest smart phone which had waaaay more features than Kyoko was comfortable with. It was also her first phone to have a touchscreen. With its extremely high sensitivity, buttons seemed to press themselves. Kyoko wondered if they'd developed some new technology that responded to brainwaves rather than fingertips.

_Why can't a phone just be a phone?_ she wondered abysmally, scrolling through the never-ending list of apps. Calculator, calendar, camera, clock, computer... and that was just the "C's"! _Why did the president have to get me the phone with multiple personality disorder?_

The owner's manual was several hundred pages longer than the history text she was supposed to be studying right now.

_No wonder kids these days have no time to study!_ (Kyoko thinks, disregarding her own age and current preoccupation.)

To her, the only thing that mattered was figuring out the email feature so that she could keep her promise to Tsuruga-san to email him every day.

When she'd finally set up her account, she found that she had 2 new messages. One of them was a chain letter from Kijima-san which contained a warning that if she didn't send the message on to three people, everyone she cared about would have bad luck for three days.

_Kijima-san! Why did you curse me so! _

Kyoko panicked. _So it was true that black magic was now sent over the internet!_

She exited the message hastily, thinking that the curse might not have had enough time to take effect. She moved on to the second message, which was from Kanae. But, when she clicked to open the message, she accidentally deleted it.

_Stupid complicated phone!_ Kyoko whined. Now she'd have to beg Kanae to re-send the message.

She shifted uncomfortably on the bench she'd been sitting on for the past five minutes. It was just outside of the studio where she was auditioning for a commercial, close enough to the doors that she'd hear her name when they called her.

While she was stressing about what to say in her apology letter to her friend, a pigeon swooped just above her, dropping a care package squarely on her shoulders.

_What an unlucky day!_ Kyoko complained to herself, while wiping bird-excrement from her school uniform. Then she remembered the chain letter.

_No, it couldn't' be!_

Not only was she already experiencing bad luck, but if the warning was true then everyone she cared about would be going through the same thing!

_Kanae! Maria!_** …Tsuruga-san!**

She couldn't bear to be responsible for their misfortune! She had to pass on that email! She quickly checked her contacts: there were only three people in her address book. One of them was Kijima, one was Kanae and the last one was Tsuruga-san whom she'd only just added.

But surely she couldn't send this type of email to Tsuruga-san! It was full of sparkles and curvy writing and animations. It would be presumptuous of her to send such a girly email to her senpai as a first email!

…But if she didn't send it, he might be experiencing bad luck because of her! What if he gets NG'd or injured during an action sequence or… heaven forbid, **he arrives late to a meeting! **

Kyoko couldn't handle that kind of responsibility, so she pressed 'forward to all contacts' and closed her eyes as the message was sent out into cyberspace.

She really owed Kijima-san a beating for this.

The next thing she did was send an apology email to Kanae, first for deleting her message and secondly for sending her a horrible chain letter.

Just as she was getting up the nerve to send an apology message to Tsuruga-san, her name was called for her turn to audition. Surely he wouldn't check his mailbox too often, what with his role as BJ in Tragic Marker and the fact that he had to stay in character as Cain Heel most of the time. He probably wouldn't see it until the end of the day when he was alone in the hotel room. Convincing herself that it wasn't an immediate problem, she was able to calm down a little.

She marched off to the audition and forgot all about that chain letter.

* * *

Later that evening, when Ren was eating his supper alone in his prep room, he opened his phone to check his messages. He'd hoped that by giving Mogami-san his email address, he'd be able to stay in contact with her even though the president had suspended her duties as Setsuka Heel. He tried not to get his hopes too high as he opened his inbox.

To his delight, at the top of the list was a message from Mogami-san. The title was a little ambiguous: "FWD: Don't delete this message, it could ruin your life!" but he was used to Mogami-san's exaggerations and strange superstitions.

When he opened the email, he was bombarded with sparkly pink text that described…

_Why __Boys And Girls__ Make Out..._

_You know that every night before you go to sleep there is one person thinking of you. They want to kiss you, they want to be with you, and they are always thinking about you. This is not fake. If you email this in 5 minutes the person that is longing to be with you will approach you within 1 month and ask you out or grab you and kiss you. But if you break this chain __**everyone you care about will have bad luck for three days**__.  
_

_Advice:  
When she acts shy- Say I Love You  
When she runs away from you- Chase her  
When she puts her face near yours- Kiss her  
When she kicks and punches you- Hold her tight  
When she is silent- She's thinking of how to say "I Love You"  
When she ignores you- She wants all your attention_

_When she pulls away- Grab her by the waist and never let go  
When you see her at her worst- Tell her she's BEAUTIFUL!_

_When she screams at you- Tell her you love you love her you mean it _

_When you see her walking- Sneak up behind her and give her a kiss  
When she's scared- Hold her and tell her everything will be ok cause she's with you  
When she looks like something's the matter- Kiss her and tell her not to worry  
While she holds your hand- Play with her fingers.  
_

_Send this in the next 69 seconds and you will have the best day of your life **this Saturday** and the one you love will either_

_KISS YOU,  
OR ASK YOU OUT,  
OR CALL YOU,  
OR TEXT YOU  
SO…SEND THIS TO 3 PEOPLE NOW!_

His first reaction was to blush. Was this Mogami-san's not-so-subtle way of expressing her desires to him? But then he caught sight of the (bolded) warning in the first paragraph and chuckled lightly.

_Ah, of course._

It was just like Kyoko to believe this kind of curse was real. He rechecked the first few lines of the email to find out who'd sent it to her first, and was caught completely off-guard by what he saw:

-Begin forwarded message-

-From: Kijima-san-

-Message: Thought you'd get a kick out of this one Mogami-chan!-

_So she was still emailing that guy!_

He looked at who else she'd forwarded it to… and was surprised to see that along with Kanae and himself, Kijima was also on the list.

_Twice? Why did she send it back to him if he was the one who sent it to her?_

Well… maybe she only had three contacts on her phone right now. He tried to reassure himself with that conclusion as he thought back to the content of the message. Supposedly she'd needed to send the chain letter to three people so that she wouldn't have bad luck.

Still, the fact that he'd been lumped in to the mix was kind of disheartening now that he knew the source of the email. It was especially bothersome because this had been the first ever email he'd received from Mogami-san.

He was mad, but, thanks to her email, he came up with the perfect way to get back at her.

* * *

It was getting dark. Any minute now the school library would flash the overhead lights, warning the students within that it was closing time. Kyoko stretched her arms over her head. The day had actually been quite productive, and she was starting to feel a little more confident about her chances in passing her advancement exams.

She packed up her books and pulled out her phone. She'd kept it on silent since her audition this afternoon, so it didn't surprise her that she had a few missed calls.

Dialing the Darumaya as she walked out of the building, she wondered if the landlady was just checking up on her or if there was something wrong.

"This is the Darumaya, how may I help you?" answered the owner's wife.

"Good evening, Missus. This is Kyoko. I'm sorry I missed your call earlier!" Kyoko said, bowing subconsciously.

"Oh, Kyoko, good evening. I was calling to let you know that someone from your talent agency stopped in for lunch today."

Kyoko's mind immediately went to the president.

"Was he wearing some silly outfit? Or perhaps riding a camel or elephant?"

She wouldn't put it past him to have some sort of dance troupe in tow as well… He would likely disrupt the other customers with his entourage…

"I'm so sorry if he caused any trouble!" Kyoko cried. It was certain that, if it had been the president, an apology was required.

"Oh dear, what are you talking about now, I wonder?" scolded the proprietress. "Nothing as exciting as that happened today. It was your friend, Kotonami-chan. She said that she emailed you, hoping that you'd be working today, but I guess you didn't get the message."

Right, the email she'd deleted today!

…

Oh GOD NO! That chain letter! Tsuruga-san! She hadn't sent him any sort of explanation!

Kyoko descended to the bottom of the ocean. All the way down into the abyss of the Marianas Trench.

"…Kyoko-chan?" the missus attempted to call Kyoko back to reality.

"Ah, sorry, yes?" answered Kyoko, resurfacing momentarily.

"Kotonami-chan asked me to tell you that the president of the company was hoping to meet with you tonight. Something about a party you two were planning?"

_A party?_ Kyoko wondered. She couldn't recall making plans for anything like that.

"Thank you for passing on the message," Kyoko said, looking at her watch. It was nearly 11 pm. She wondered if the president would still be at LME. "I'll probably be home late again tonight, so please don't wait up."

"Don't stay out too late, Kyoko-chan. It's not good for young ladies to be up all hours of the night, you know."

"I won't. Good night!"

"Good night."

Kyoko hung up her phone and jumped on her bicycle. If she hurried, she might be able to catch the president before he went home.

As she entered the main branch, she tried to slow her pace. Sawara-san was always scolding her for running in the halls, warning her that she'd cause more harm (by knocking people over) than good (from being on time).

Her mind was wandering as she walked to the president's office. What kind of party was the president planning, and how did Kanae know about it when she, herself, didn't?

Out of nowhere, a pair of hands reached around her waist from behind, grabbing her.

Kyoko screamed.

The person didn't let go, and she swore that she felt him kiss her.

_Shoutaro? _

_No, if it were him, he'd make sure she knew it._

She struggled to get out of the man's grasp, but he held on tightly.

"Let go!" she shouted angrily.

Kyoko's heart was beating frantically. _The missus was right! It was too dangerous for young women to be anywhere late at night!_

She flailed her limbs, kicking and punching with all of her might, but she couldn't reach the man behind her. In fact, it seemed as though he was holding her tighter.

_If this is the Beagle man, I'm getting a restraining order! No, I'll send him to the pound!  
_

"What- is- your- problem?" Kyoko muttered while struggling against his confining arms.

"Problem?" answered a smooth and all-too-familiar voice behind her. "I was just following your advice, Mogami-san."

Kyoko stilled, her body seized with absolute terror.

It was Ren. Tsuruga-san was behind her, and she could feel his gentlemanly smile.

"My… advice?" she choked, her heart clearly in her throat.

She could feel his anger wafting over her.

"Why yes, Mogami-san," Ren answered, relinquishing his hold on her so she could turn around. "Or did you already forget about that email you sent me?"

The email… Oh GOD THE EMAIL!

All she could do was gape at him in silence.

"Ah, being silent, eh?" Tsuruga-san stroked his chin. "Does this mean you are thinking of ways to say 'I Love You'?" he asked, drawing out every syllable.

Kyoko's face turned brick red.

"I'm so sorry, Tsuruga-sama," she wailed, dropping to the floor in a full dogeza. "You must understand, I didn't mean it! I was cursed! I had to send it to three people!"

Tsuruga-san chuckled, kneeling beside her on the floor.

"Don't worry, Mogami-san, I understand," Ren soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "But you should be more careful about what kind of advice you give to others."

Kyoko sat up cautiously. Ren was now comfortably leaning back against the opposite wall of the small hallway.

"Tsuruga-san…" she began, still not sure what she wanted to say. "Do you think it's true… That someone, anyone, could be thinking about me before they go to sleep?"

Like a sneak attack, those words cut beneath all his layers of defense, and lodged themselves in his heart.

"Yes, I believe it is, Kyoko-chan," he replied, a small smile playing on his lips that he couldn't hold back, even if he'd tried. "By the way… Do you have any plans for this Saturday?"

**Fin.**


End file.
